Topic: What am I seeing?

[achiro]

I'm pretty much new to sonar, even 2d.  When I look at my screen I'm still pretty much at the "what the heck am I looking at" stage.  I've watched all the Doug Vahrenberg and Jason Halfen videos I could find and they help a ton(thanks guys if you read this) but they seem to be a little more about settings than interpretation.  I know experience will help but are there any other sources for interpretation of what I'm looking at to shorten the learning curve?  I really want to be the guy that can look at the screen and say, "those are catfish" or "a nice school of crappie"  but I'm pretty much clueless at this point so anything will help.  Thanks for any links, info, or suggestions.

[Humminbird_Greg]

The BBC boards have a section for sonar image interpretation:
http://www.bbcboards.net/humminbird-image-interpretation/

If you cannot find enough information there, try posting some of your own images.
There are also some guides that offer on the water sonar training.

[sonar2000]

If you post picture here there are a whole lot of folks who can help you with identifying sonar returns.
Picture help more than words..

Chuck

[ITGEEK]

Most people cannot tell what species they are looking at
on their sonar.  Unless they spend an awful lot of time on
particular bodies of water.

The sonar will show you what is under the transducer, and
the depth.  If you are over a school of fish, and you pull up
a Crappie, you can probably assume what you are seeing
is a school of Crappie.

If you see a fish close to a log on the bottom, maybe that
fish is a Largemouth Bass, or it could be a Catfish.
Catching it, or lowering down a camera, or diving is the
only way to be absolutely sure what it is.

If you know there is a rock pile in your lake, then you
go over it with your sonar, then you should now know
what rocks look like on the screen.

There is no short-cut to sonar interpretation.
Time on the water is your best bet.

[sonar2000]

ITG is certainly correct in his reply. Experience is the best teacher.

In our use of sonar for searches we spent an enormus amount of time learning what was normal for a particular bottom or area. And this was for each brand of sonar.
Then when we have the mission to locate we could now scan the area and look for the abnormal or out of place returns.
Somtimes that may be the color and at others the shape of the object. Not all objects will be of the shape you might be thinking.
Which brings up this important thought: if at first you dont see something of interest run the scan at a different angle (90 degrees). And of course record the scans and review with several viewers.
You will be surprised at what the viewers will make available that you missed on the initial unit screen.
Of course, it is experience that makes the difference so run these things every chance you get..

Chuck

[newkid4si]

achiro
    Great guidance from the above post.
    Here is a link to 21 articles that I found very helpful in understanding how sonar works.

                      http://www.biggeorgiaspots.com/boats-and-electronics.html

   I would spend time learning to interpret the images on the screen before trying to ID types of fish.
   There are many knowledgeable people here willing to help you.

                   Mike

[achiro]

Thanks for the links so far.  Honestly, I know I said that about naming species but I would be happy to know enough to trust that what I am seeing is actually fish.  I'm going to post some screenshots in the next couple of days of last weekends outing.  The 2D constantly had stuff on it, even if I turned the sensitivity way down.  The lake is way down so maybe it was fish concentrated in what water is left but I just don't know.  Anyway, I do appreciate the help so far. 

[ITGEEK]

achiro,
Let me give you a little bit of wisdom that it took a while for me to
finally figure out.
I see thousands of fish on my sonar.
Just because you can see them, it doesn't mean you can catch them.
I fish a local lake and probably get skunked 50% of the time,
but I always see fish on my sonar.

Also, if you want to see fish, turn on your fish ID.
It will show 3 different sizes and the depths of each fish.
I love it.
The pros say to not use it, but what do they really know?

[achiro]

SO this is the first attempt at a screenshot.  I had the motor up and was using the trolling motor mounted on the front of the boat, transducer on back so I'm not sure why so many bubbles? Any suggestions on settings and what I'm looking at?

[Bob B]

The bubble are probably "prop wash" from your trolling motor.  You would be less likely to see this with your main motor if you are able to trim it up enough for a good view since the prop would be after the transducer.

You will get this with the main motor if you run over the same area again or cross the path of another boat.